OFN Newsletter Out Now!
Our Food Network
https://mailchi.mp/32e257bc0360/our-food-network-newsletter-6743553
He Tāngata, He Tāngata, He Tāngata.
It is people, it is people, it is people.
People are the heart of food resilience. Beyond policies and technologies, it is the hands that plant, the minds that innovate, and the communities that come together in times of scarcity that make our food systems truly resilient. Every farmer nurturing the soil, every local vendor supporting regional supply chains, and every consumer choosing sustainability plays a vital role. Food resilience is not just about surviving disruption—it's about people empowering each other to thrive in the face of it. Without people, there is no resilience. With people, there is hope, adaptability, and the strength to feed generations to come.
If you are new to our newsletter, welcome and let us introduce you to Our Food Network. We are an organisation that believes in an integrated, accessible, and collaborative approach to ensure Ōtepoti neighbourhoods have what they need in order to nurture this resilience. There is so much work happening around this beautiful city in terms of localising food. OFN is simply helping to connect the dots.
Our vision is one where Ōtepoti has a strong well-connected local food system that nurtures the well-being and resilience of neighbourhoods and communities.
Our mission is to work with people and communities to support food growers to make it easier for people to access local food. We support people to work together and find common ground and solutions.
This newsletter is action packed full of those connections, keep reading to see what's happening in your neighbourhood.
Do you have a story to share? Reach out to us at ourfoodnetwork@gmail.com.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our recent Growing Stronger Together Hui!
We truly valued the rich conversations, thoughtful discussions, and inspiring ideas shared on how we can continue moving forward together.
A special thank you to Anna Parker from Mātāwai, who skillfully facilitated this strategic hui.
Anna’s mahi is centred on nurturing strong, connected, and resilient communities. With a deep understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and cross-cultural engagement, she brings a powerful set of tools and strategies to support meaningful change. Anna is known for curating hui and events that leave a lasting impact.
We also could not have this hui without the support of Southern Youth Development, the facility was fantastic and we are extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to use the wonderful space. Thanks SYD!
A summary of our hui will be shared next week — stay tuned!
Want to join us?
Were looking for new committee members to join Our Food Network!
Are you passionate about food resilience and building a stronger local food system? We're seeking enthusiastic people to help shape the future of our mahi.
We’d especially love support in the areas of:
Treasury and financial admin
Social media and communications
Event planning and coordination
Policy development
General ideas, energy, and action!
Whether you have specific skills or just a big heart for local food, we’d love to hear from you. Let’s grow together — for our communities, our environment, and our future.
Get in touch if you’re keen to get involved!
ourfoodnetwork@gmail.com
Wild Dunedin 11-22 April 2025
Wild Dunedin planning is in full swing, and we’re thrilled to announce that Our Food Network will be there! Join us on April 13th at Forsyth Barr for the community day.
Come check out our stall together with Enviroschools!
We have an exciting line up of activities planned:
How to set up a worm farm! (On the hour)
Wriggly Squiggly Worms! Make your own
Take a closer look - use our microscopes to investigate soil
Use our Healthy Soil kits to understand what makes the best soil
Soil Your Undies! Not for real, but how does material decompose in soil?
How to use Bokashi Buckets
For more details about Wild Dunedin, be sure to visit their webpage.
Heading along? Make sure you take some photos and post to share with #wilddunedin and #ourfoodnetwork!
Community Fruit Harvest
Check out this update from the Community Fruit Harvest Team:
You’re invited to the Community Fruit Harvest Harvest Festival!
Come help us celebrate the success of another season, recognising our fruit owners, volunteers and recipients.
We’ve got a fun day planned and we hope you will come join us with the whole whanau. Free to attend, all are welcome.
Apple + Pear Pressing ($2p/litre)
Preserves Competition ($2 entry to taste/judge!)
Coffee Cart / Food trucks
Live Music
Community Information Tables / Market Stalls
Seed Swap
Free workshops
Kids entertainment (in addition to the school playground!)
(This is a zero waste event, please BYO coffee cups and empty bottles for freshly pressed juice)
Want to Volunteer: https://forms.gle/Je97AiTwMLPAkGek7
Want to be a vendor or stall holder?
https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSdQ1CYdLk0eKS.../viewform
Schedule of Events:
11-14:30 Kids activities, Sausage sizzle, market stalls, information tables and food trucks, Apple + Pear Pressing all day
Music Lineup:
10:50-11:30 Rohana Weaver
11:40-12:20 George Warren
12:20-12:30 Announcements/Preserve Awards
12:35-13:15 Paul Allen and Bella
13:30-14:30 James Dignan
Workshops/Events:(NEV School Hall)
11-12pm Preserves Competition and Tasting, School Hall For a $2 entry, anyone is welcome to come taste and pick your favourite jam, chutney or pickle. Winner will be awarded Dunedin’s Preserve Champ! Register Now: https://forms.gle/qZXjFgokGGtXxuB37
13:00-13:30 Official seed swap event (table open until 14:30) *Anyone is welcome to bring seeds for sharing. Free
(Workshops held in TVP Fred Hollows Room)
11:30-11:30 Workshop 1 TBA
11:45-12:15 Workshop 2 TBA
12:30-12:45 Tour of NEV Community Garden
12:24-13:15 Bees and Pollination Workshop
13:30-14:00 Workshop 4 TBA
15:00-16:00 Community Crop Swap at The Valley Project. Bring your excess produce from home and swap it for some treats from other locals! Free, anyone welcome.
For the 2nd Year Running, the Community Fruit Harvest brings you the Harvest Festival Preserve Competition!
To celebrate the fruits of the season past and prepare for the coming winter we are opening a space for a public preserve-share.
There will be sweet (jams, jellies, marmalades, stewed fruit etc.) and savoury (chutneys, relishes, pickles, ferments, etc.) categories.
The competition will be held via public vote, so get your jars sorted and your taste buds ready to find the next preserving champ!
To enter a preserve please register via this link:
https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLScnfPub9h.../viewform...
Tasting via gold coin donation.
Mark Your Calendar!
29th May 6:30pm -7:30pm
Join Our Food Network for our next hui!
We'll be gathering at the Dunningham Suite, Dunedin Public Library on Thursday, 29 May 2025, from 6:30pm to 7:30pm.
Guest speaker: To be confirmed
There are no formal activities planned — just a relaxed opportunity to connect with like-minded people, share what you're working on, and enjoy some good conversation in a welcoming space.
Come along, sit back, and have a chat — we’d love to see you there!
Contact and RSVP to: ourfoodnetwork@gmail.com
Hagar Orzi - The Organic Cook!
Join Hagar on the 20th May 6:30pm - 8pm at the Valley Project.
In this class we will learn simple dishes to relieve symptoms and create healthy gut environment. We will talk about issues that are very common and explore solutions that can be easily implemented in our kitchen, there will be some hands-on cooking and a meal at the end. All the ingredients will be plant-based and natural whole-food.
Get your tickets and check out event on the facebook page here
Food For Thought!
In case you missed it, take a read of this article from RNZ.
Monique Fiso is out of the kitchen and leading the fight against industrial agriculture
After closing her iconic Wellington restaurant Hiakai, the Māori-Samoan chef and occasional TV star has become an advocate for kai motuhake (food sovereignty).
RNZ Online
5 April 2025
4 min read
After years working in high-end restaurants overseas, Monique Fiso ran the always-booked-out Māori and Pasifika restaurant Hiakai from 2018 to 2024.
This year, she's busy writing a follow-up to her hit 2020 cookbook Hiakai - but also standing by to shoot another series of the TVNZ show Hui Hoppers.
It was a rare and fun experience filming a bilingual wahine-led comedy show in a marae kitchen with people who live on the pā, Fiso tells Susie Ferguson.
“I do hope that they do a season three because we're all in to do it again.”
Monique Fiso holds a kōura (crayfish) in an episode of the TVNZ show Hui Hunters.
TVNZ
Being "a bit shy", Fiso was nervous to meet celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay when he flew in for his travel show Uncharted in 2023 but says the famously explosive Brit was actually super easygoing.
“He has this really amazing ability to add a lot of energy and retain a lot of information, and he likes to jump in and try new things. He just really put me at ease because I think he could tell I was nervous.”
Despite all the mosquitoes flying into her face that day, Fiso says she kept her focus on kai Māori - “trying to do us proud and hold it down”.
Although many people thought Fiso was “kind of crazy” for closing the doors of Hiakai last year, she felt like she’d gotten “to the top of the maunga (mountain)” as a chef and knew her passion for kai would be better used outside of the kitchen.
After running a restaurant for six years, she was also exhausted.
“Your brain never really switches off when you're running an operation like that - you're always on.”
Hāngi of belly, swede and cress - a dish served at Monique Fiso's Wellington restaurant Hiakai.
Since shutting the restaurant, Fiso’s focus has been schooling herself on the commercial side of kai, including the societal and health harms of industrial agriculture.
To Kiwis keen to source food grown in more healthy environments, she recommends picking up fruit and veges from local markets and buying meat from the local butcher.
For the many families who don’t have enough land for a vege garden, growing herbs in pots to sprinkle on your meals (rather than buying a small bunch in hard plastic) is another healthy move.
Onion Weed - a pungent herb with white onion-like bulbs - can be found in public gardens and parks, the margins of forests, scrubland and on the roadside.
Foraging for edible plants while you’re out and about is another of Fiso’s food recommendations - her favourites to seek out are Onion Weed (when in season), Tarata (lemonwood), Kawakawa and Sea Lettuce.
“[Foraging] is not only good for feeding yourself and reclaiming kai motuhake (food sovereignty) in your own life but also good for your physical and mental health.”
While Fiso is feeling “re-energised” these days, when stress or impatience inevitably hit, she reminds herself how lucky she is to even be alive.
Last year, after being struck by a car going 50km an hour across a pedestrian crossing, Fiso was thrown up into the air and dropped 11 metres away.
She counts herself very fortunate for the swift response of passersby and a pretty smooth recovery from her injuries (concussion and a fractured knee) but says many drivers don’t take enough care as they approach crossings.
“I do encourage people to stop at pedestrian crossings, just slow down a little bit.”
FEED
Food Equity & Education Dunedin.
Dunedin's Urban Farming and Food Security Project.
The purpose of FEED is to increase the food security and resilience for Dunedin and the wider community. Establishing community gardens and farming environments; providing educational opportunities on the production and use of fresh produce; and to encourage the development of a new generation of farmers.
FEED needs your help!
FEED is looking for anyone that has any excess soil that could be donated to help get this important food security initiative off the ground. Your support would be invaluable in ensuring this project thrives, and as we all know, soil is the foundation of any successful garden.
Contact: secretary@feed.org.nz
or
ourfoodnetwork@gmail.com
Buzz along to one of many local community garden working bees, help dig out some weeds, plant some vegetables, and watch nature grow!
Check out the calendar here!
If you would like to list an event, please get in touch!
Got a story or announcement to share? We'd love to hear from you!
Send us your updates, and we'll feature them on our social media, website, and in our newsletter.
Email us at: ourfoodnetwork@gmail.com
Our Food Network wishes to thank our funders and sponsors for 2024/2025.
Otago Community Trust
Dunedin City Council
Community Organsation Grants Scheme (COGS)
Lotteries NZ
Bunning Warehouse
Harraways
Department of Food Science, University of Otago
